blackbearnh writes: "After years of having the more extreme elements of the Free Software community imply that he and his kind are akin to war criminals for writing proprietary software, O'Reilly Radar commentator James Turner has had enough.

In an essay out today, Turner argues that FOSS has it's place in the software ecosystem, and that it naturally tends to dominate it. But, equally, there are places where FOSS makes no sense at all, and it's silly to demand that all software should be free. He's especially fed up with demands that he settle for less than the best software he can get, simply to support the FOSS movement unconditionally. TFA: "In many cases, proprietary software fills niches that FOSS software does not. If individual activists want to 'wear a hair shirt' and go without functionality in the name of FOSS, that's their decision. But I like linen, thank you.""Link to Original Source